Whether it’s a client in financial difficulty or a client pursuing the collection of assets or debts owed, insolvency issues play a prominent role for federal practitioners with commercial and general litigation practices.
Consumer Bankruptcy Committee
Committees
On May 19, 2019, Senator Dick Durbin introduced Senate Bill 1414, which proposes a simple solution to the ongoing question of how student loans should be handled in bankruptcy. It would strike § 523(a)(8) in its entirety from the Bankruptcy Code, thereby making any governmental or private student loan immediately dischargeable.
Editor’s Note: The following article, “The Bankruptcy Code’s Disservice to Those Who Served” won the prize for third place in the 11th Annual ABI Bankruptcy Law Student Writing Competition. Mr. Jonathan S. Glover is a third year student at Stetson University College Of Law in Gulfport, Florida. Thank you to Jenner & Block for sponsoring this prize.
A split among courts continues to persist with respect to the statutory interpretation of 11 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(5)’s equal-monthly-payment provision and the prioritization of payments of the debtor’s attorney’s fees pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 1326(b)(1).
It often comes as an unwelcome surprise when debtors discover that they cannot force a creditor to take something back that the debtors no longer want, no longer use and no longer intend to pay for.
Student loan debt is (mostly) presumed nondischargeable under § 523(a)(8).[1] Hardship discharge of such debt has become a vanishingly probable outcome.
Beth Stephens and Richard Cole, co-chairs of the ABI Consumer Committee this year, thank all committee members for their support and participation in 2018. The Consumer Committee has a diverse membership.
The Bankruptcy Code contemplates the filing of a joint petition to commence a bankruptcy case for a married couple under § 302(a).
Bankruptcy Code § 707(a) provides that a chapter 7 case may be dismissed “for cause,” including for (1) unreasonable delay, (2) nonpayment of fees or (3) failure to timely file certain information. However, “cause” is not defined, and the statutory examples are illustrative, not exhaustive. Currently, there is a circuit split as to whether bad faith can be “cause.”
The City of Chicago is finding itself entangled in a set of legal issues surrounding the Bankruptcy Code and the enforcement of parking tickets through civil fines, impoundment and license suspension. The interplay of Chicago parking ticket debt and consumer bankruptcy is making for a fascinating legal showdown.
Mr. Jeffrey S. Fraser
Co-Chair
Albertelli Law
Lake Worth, FL
(954) 647-0691
Co-Chair
Albertelli Law
Lake Worth, FL
(954) 647-0691
Mr. Patrick Hruby
Co-Chair
Brock & Scott, PLLC
Tampa, FL
(813) 342-2200
Co-Chair
Brock & Scott, PLLC
Tampa, FL
(813) 342-2200
Mr. Daryl J. Smith, Esq.
Communications Manager
Chapter 13 Trustee Office
Shreveport, LA
(318) 673-8244
Communications Manager
Chapter 13 Trustee Office
Shreveport, LA
(318) 673-8244
Mr. Jeffrey S. Fraser
Special Projects Leader
Albertelli Law
Lake Worth, FL
(954) 647-0691
Special Projects Leader
Albertelli Law
Lake Worth, FL
(954) 647-0691
Mr. Ari David Kunofsky
Special Projects Leader
Alexandria, VA
(202) 353-5264
Special Projects Leader
Alexandria, VA
(202) 353-5264